Fishing seats, traditionally called "fighting chairs," are designed to facilitate the fisherman's ability to follow the course of a hooked fish by mounting the seat on a single pivotal axis. Such seats are restrictive in the limited range of motion possible to the seated fisherman. In view of the finite length of a fishing rod, a fisherman seated in a conventional singe-axis rotational chair risks entanglement of his rod and line and loss of his fish when the fish plays off the end of modern wide-transomed fishing boats. To avoid such entanglement and to follow the fish along the sides, a fisherman seated in a conventional chair must rise from his seat and lose the leverage and stability gained when "fighting" a fish in a seated and secure position.
Other forms of "fighting chairs" have included mounting a platform on a single column about which the apparatus rotates. This seat, as rotational about a single axis, has been used to permit fore-to-aft an starboard-to-port positioning While platforms have been added to provide a support for a fishing rod and foot rest, movement of the chair has been limited to rotation about the single axis.
Previous adjustable chairs have made use of a jointed pedestal where substantially linear movement has been desired relative to the base element. While such a pedestal and attached seat allow the seated person to choose an extent of movement in a fore-to-aft direction, any lateral or arcuate movement is restricted.
Other methods for creating adjustable apparatus incorporate a locking rod into a central telescoping receiving post to permit a limited vertical adjustment of the seat. In order to extend multidirectional movement of an apparatus, another method requires the connection of a series of jointed arms. Folding bed tables, for example, combine jointed arms in a table support to allow correct positioning by a patient. However, none of these methods or apparatus provides the motion appropriate for "fighting chairs."
Other features, such as motorized controls having either foot pedals or hand switches, have been incorporated in seat design to permit a fisherman to control the movement of his seat. These controls, however, are limited to the single rotation axis of the chair. While motorized control certainly facilitates a fisherman's control of his seating direction, it cannot extend the fisherman's reach beyond the limited radius of motion possible from the single-axis support.